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Fukushima Videos Show Operators Knew a Meltdown Was Imminent

Recently released video footage show last year’s nuclear disaster unfolding inside the Fukushima power plant. It shows that the operators there had an early awareness of just how serious the situation was, even as its severity was downplayed to the public. The events that followed the earthquake and tsunami resulted in the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl.

Though incomplete, the footage from a concrete bunker at the plant confirms what many had long suspected: that the Tokyo Electric Power Company, the plant’s operator, knew from the early hours of the crisis that multiple meltdowns were likely despite its repeated attempts in the weeks that followed to deny such a probability.

It also suggests that the government, during one of the bleakest moments, ordered the company not to share information with the public, or even local officials trying to decide if more people should evacuate.